Viticultural cane support system

Inactive Publication Date: 2019-06-20
BABCOCK BRYAN
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent describes a new system for supporting grape vine canes. It includes a positioning shaft and a suspension arm that work together to create a cane receptacle. This system solves the problem of previous methods which used difficult and unstable support structures.

Problems solved by technology

This technique does not provide optimum conditions for machine harvesting, nor does it provide optimum spring frost protection, nor does it provide optimum human ergonomic conditions for canopy management in the vine's fruiting zone, nor does it provide conditions for the layering of fruiting canes in a cane pruned system, and requires significant infrastructure in the form of support wires and other devices to support the crop above the cordons or fruiting canes, along with the overall requirement of significant labor in order to place the vines each year up into the trellis, as well the significant labor that is necessary to prune the vines out of the structure at the end of each season.

Method used

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  • Viticultural cane support system
  • Viticultural cane support system
  • Viticultural cane support system

Examples

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Embodiment Construction

[0021]Embodiments shown in the drawings and described herein provide a viticultural method and system for alternative positioning of fruiting canes in individual grape vines at a higher level than normal prior art practice, nominally 48 to 60 inches with the trunk extending to that height. The canes are then laterally positioned outward from the vine's trunks and held by the pedestals which support the canes horizontally, but allow for rotation, or the significant pronation, of the canes within the supporting cane receptacles. At this higher level, as new shoot growth appears from the canes, instead of being supported above the cane, the canes pronate within the cane receptacles to allow the new growth to hang downward into natural positioning, which allows the weight of the vine's canopy and fruit to be borne by the pedestal, as opposed to being suspended on support wires. Positioning of the vineyard rows relative to a prevailing breeze additionally allows the force of the wind aga...

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Abstract

A cane pedestal for support of grape vine canes incorporates a positioning shaft supported by wires extending between vine stakes. The positioning shaft extends upwardly above a top wire with a suspension arm located proximate a head of the positioning shaft. The suspension arm extends from the positioning shaft with a bight angularly oriented with respect to a vertical axis of the positioning shaft. The suspension arm configured to receive and support grape vine canes.

Description

BACKGROUNDField[0001]This invention relates generally to the field of viticulture, in particular to the design and manufacture of grapevine support systems and to methods for grapevine cane support and crop management, and more particularly, to a cane support pedestal employing a positioning shaft and suspension arm.Description of the Related Art[0002]Vineyard management for both wine and table grapes has varied over many generations of farmers. With modern viticulture techniques consistency in crop yields and character particularly in wine grapes is being established. Such consistency is imperative for creation of high quality wines. European and American viticulturalists have developed several predominant infrastructures (“trellises”) with accompanying canopy manipulation techniques for managing wine producing vines. A prior art trellising approach for grape vines, Vertical Shoot Positioning (“VSP”), employs support wires extending between posts and with cordons or fruiting canes ...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): A01G17/06
CPCA01G17/06A01G9/12A01G9/122
InventorBABCOCK, BRYAN
OwnerBABCOCK BRYAN